Lance Stephenson Apologizes for Choking Taunt at LeBron James

In the second half of the Pacers-Heat game Thursday night, Lance Stephenson flashed a “choke” gesture in LeBron James’ direction following a missed free throw. Then Saturday afternoon, the inevitable occurred: the Pacers guard apologized for his actions, admitting it was disrespectful. The Miami Sun-Sentinel has the report: “Lance who? That was LeBron James’ response Saturday when asked about seldom-used Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson giving him the ‘choke’ sign after James missed a third-quarter free throw during the Miami Heat’s 94-75 Thursday loss at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Even with the video of Stephenson crossing his hands over his neck having gone viral, James insisted at Saturday’s practice he had not seen or even heard about the display on the Pacers bench. ‘What happened?’ he said in response to the question about the action, which came in the wake of his missed free throw following a technical foul on Pacers forward Danny Granger. ‘Nah, I didn’t see that.’… ‘I’m not…I’ve been there before,’ he said with a pause. I’m not going to stoop down to Lance Stephenson. Lance Stephenson? You guys want me to quote about Lance Stephenson? I’m not even going to give him the time. Knock it off.’ Stephenson knew he had gone to a bad place. ‘I was wrong and disrespectful to my teammates, the Miami Heat and their organization,’ he told NBA.com after the Pacers’ Saturday practice. ‘I’m sorry that I did that. It was very disrespectful.'”